Garrett & Gunnar's Graduation Open House

I confessed a while back about being sooo behind on blogging about events in our life ...
well, here is the proof!
I wish I would've posted these right away, while they were still current, like any good little blogger would,
but alas, I am a good 2 months behind.
Where in the world has the summer gone??

I do want to share these pictures though, because although it was nothing fancy~schmancy,
I was proud of the decorations for our twin sons' graduation open house.
Due to the fact that we have all boys, my general decor theme throughout our home leans more
on the manly side ... nothing too frilly or frou-frou would fly around here.
When thinking how I'd decorate for their open house, I knew the same logic would apply.
My thoughts immediately went to burlap!
I am crazy about burlap & knew I'd have fun with this one!
All my ideas were approved by the graduating class of Garrett & Gunnar ...
the decor would be black & grey, using burlap, twine, & tin cans.
I have much of this same style & look in our home, so we decided to incorporate various antiques
& decor items that we already had {bonus ...saved some $$}.
All in all, it turned out beautifully.
The food was delicious & the fellowship was the best part of the day.
The boys got special treatment from start to finish ... many congratulations & well-wishes for their futures.
It was a day they'll remember always.

We decided to host the open house in our back yard.
My sweet cousin, Darlene, not only loaned us her tents, her husband came & put them up for us!
They were just what we needed!

The tents are going up!

Let's get the party started!

The candelier, one of my favorite ever, added just the right amount of flair to this tent!

{We hung three other candeliers throughout the yard, but sadly, those weren't photographed!
I tried to think of everything, but sadly, a few things fell through the cracks.}

James smoked a huge pork shoulder & 2 whole chickens ... let me tell you,
the sandwiches flew off the plates!

We feasted!
My little chalkboard that normally sits on my kitchen counter served as the perfect menu board.

I saved a few tin cans to use for various things ... here, they are holders for the plastic ware.

I wanted to buy small brown sacks for chips, the candy-store size bags, but decided to save $$
& go this route {more to come on these chip bags}.

Totally loved these!

I used Mason jars for the BBQ & the pickle bar.
Yes, we had a pickle bar!
My boys love pickles =)
{I can't seem to find pics of it}

This beautiful drink dispenser was a gift from my friend, Stacy, for my birthday.
I just love it!
It fit right in with this theme.

You'd have thought this gummy jar had magical powers!
There was a steady stream of adults & kids alike all.day.long.

I turned one of my vintage suitcases into a 'card box' ... isn't this adorable?
I tell you how I made the banner on a later blog.

This was my 1st project using chalkboard paint ...& it was a success!
I'll show you how I took this wall hanging apart & gave it a whole new look {blog coming soon}.

I've always wanted to do drinks in a wheel barrow!

The wheel barrow, full of ice, kept the water bottles cold.

Each table had tin cans filled with peanuts in the shell.
My sweet friend, Aleisa, helped gets the cans all decorated up {more on that later}.

 We also use a few various metal/galvanized containers ... here, we used my antique scoop too.

These lanterns ... what a find!!
I was so excited to come across these at the Christmas Tree Shoppe!
They were spot on with the decor theme & were only $7.99.

My father-in-law makes the best potato salad known to man-kind
& he so graciously made up a huge batch for the party!

My mother-in-law makes delicious everything!!
She is a wonderful cook.
All the party-goers found that out when they tasted this pasta salad.
I was asked probably a good 15 times, "Who made this salad & can we get the recipe?"

So proud of our boys!

 Homeschool grads rock!

And the party would have been incomplete without a whole host of family & friends.
They were truly the icing on the cake!

And what would we have done without all these mustaches?!

All in all, this day couldn't have been any better!
We are so grateful for all our friends & family for making this day over-the-top!
We love all of you!